Monthly Archive for December, 2008

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Hanging The Christmas Lights

Published on December 7, 2008 in blogging. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

I never really look forward to stringing up the ‘ol Christmas lights. I hate dealing with the huge tangled ball of lights. Why is it that no matter how carefully you put them away the year before, they somehow end up a tangled mess that takes an hour to straighten out. I spend more time unsnarling light strands then I do actually hanging them. Inevitably I end up procrastinating which results in a choice of putting them up in a pouring rain or dealing with the sad faces of my kids and the angry scowl from the wife. I didn’t want to be known as the “Grinch” so since today was a beautiful sunny day without a cloud in the sky I figured I would tackle the lights. Ok, truth is I wasn’t going to do it today until I saw both neighbors putting their lights up. I didn’t want to be the odd-neighbor-out so I rummaged through the garage until I uncovered our giant ball of glass lights. It felt like a WWF Smackdown event as I untangled the lights, breaking three bulbs in the process. Normally breaking a few bulbs wouldn’t be an issue but apparently I used all the spares last year. At any rate I got the lights up with little issue and didn’t even fall off the roof. This picture is the end result. It’s not a big theatric production like you see on YouTube these days but it fits our taste just fine.

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Waldo Sunset

Published on December 6, 2008 in blogging, Oregon and photography. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

I shot this sunset at Waldo Lake during a family camping trip. Waldo Lake is a large natural lake, approximately 31 miles east of Oakridge and 70 miles from the Eugene, Springfield area. Waldo is located at an elevation of 5,414 feet in the Oregon Cascades. This was a 30 second exposure shot with a Canon 20D. Later that night there were some big thunderstorms that rolled through the area. We heard what sounded like a freight train off in the distance that seemed to grow closer with each passing minute. The sound turned out to be heavy wind that soon hit the trees surrounding us. We laid in our tents in the dark with the sound of heavy rain, the occasional flash of lightning and the trees swaying back and forth, creaking like an old wood floor. We huddled in our refuge hoping the top of a tree or a large limb wouldn’t break off and crush us in our sleeping bags. Eventually the storm gave way to a gentle rain and the sound of water droplets on the nylon skin of our tent put us to sleep.

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Bandung Longing

Published on December 4, 2008 in blogging, Indonesia and photography. 9 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Recently I’ve really been missing Bandung. Last time I was there was 2005 so it’s been far too long. I miss the sights, the sounds and the smells. But what I really miss is the food. One of my favorite snacks is martabak, a sweet pancake like food with different toppings. My favorite is the martabak special with keju (cheese), pisang (banana), corn and drizzled with sweet condensed milk. This photo is of the place in Bandung my family and I always went when we got the craving for martabak (which was quite often). I’m not really sure of the location so if you live in Bandung and this place looks familiar drop me a line and let me know where it is so I can add update this post.

**UPDATE** Terima kasih to Eric Setiawan for letting me know that this martabak location is on Jalan Jenderal Sudirman in Pasar Andir area, near Gang Luna.

indonesia travel

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Two-fer Tuesday

Published on December 3, 2008 in blogging and photography. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

It’s Tuesday and that calls for a Two-fer (yes, two posts today). This was an image I took over Thanksgiving. Shot at ISO 800 with a Canon 20D.

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Alphabetize XP

Published on December 3, 2008 in blogging and technical. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Ever install an app in Windows XP and have it put it at the bottom of the All Programs list? Sure, we all have. Wished it would automatically alphabetize each entry? It’s really not that hard. Here is what you need to do:

    Run regedit and browse to
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

    Right-click the MenuOrder key (in the left-hand pane) and select Permissions

    Click Advanced. Deselect “Include from parent the permission…”

    Click Copy at the Security pop-up. Click OK.

    Back in the permissions view, select your user-name and deselect “Allow” next to Full Control in the Permissions pane at the bottom of the window. Repeat this step for any groups you are a part of (Administrators etc.)

    Reboot. Now when you install applications they will be alphabetized automatically.

One thing I noticed after doing this is that now my All Programs list displays all my program folders first (in alphabetical order) and then any individual applications (not in an application group folder). When I install a new application it is indeed put into alphabetical order. Also before the change my All Programs list would typically display a shortened list of recently used applications which could then be expanded to the full list. Now it seems like to just displays the full list all the time and on occasion an abbreviated list. Overall however, I like the change as I don’t have to search through an unorganized list of applications (which in my case is quite long).

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